FIG. 1 shows an appearance of a refrigerator according to a prior art. According to the figure, doors 11 and 13 are installed at a main body 10 of the refrigerator. The doors 11 and 13, which are for selectively opening and closing a predetermined storage space provided in the main body 10, are pivotably installed at the main body 10 through hinges h and h′, respectively. Door handles 11′ and 13′ are installed at sides opposite to pivots of the doors 11 and 13, respectively.
While a dispenser for supplying water to the outside is installed at the door 11 of the doors 11 and 13, a communication pad 17 is installed at the door 13. Alternatively, a home bar may be naturally installed at any one of the doors.
The communication pad 17 for communication between a user and the refrigerator comprises a separate household electrical appliance, such as a LCD screen, a tabulate computer, a television, a radio. The communication pad 17 is connected to a controller 19 provided on an upper portion of the main body 10 by wire or wireless.
In addition, FIG. 2 shows a communication pad mounting structure according to the prior art. According to the figure, a front surface of the door 13 of the refrigerator is provided with a seating space 14 for seating the communication pad 17. A front surface of the seating space 14 is formed to be open. A bottom surface of the seating surface 14 is formed with a pair of through holes 14a. In addition, upper and lower ends of the seating space 14 are provided with a clamp 20 and a holder 30 for fixing the communication pad 17, respectively.
The clamp 20 is formed with a seating groove 21, which is elongated from side to side, and in which an upper end of the communication pad 17 is seated. A front end of the clamp 20 is formed with a supporting end 23 for supporting an upper front end of the communication pad 17. The clamp 20 is pivotably installed by a hinge 25, which is provided at the upper end of the seating space 14.
The hinge 25 is provided with at least one torsion spring 29. The torsion spring 29 prevents the clamp 20 from freely pivoting and maintains the state that the communication pad 17 is seated in the seating space 14. The torsion spring 29 gives the clamp 20 an elastic force counterclockwise with respect to the figure.
In the meantime, the holder 30 is formed with an insertion groove 31, which is elongated from side to side, and into which a lower end of the communication pad 17 is inserted. A bottom surface of the holder 30 is provided with insertion legs 33, which pass through the through holes 14a and are positioned at the lower end of the seating space 14. The insertion legs 33 may slightly move back and forth in the through holes 14a. Lower ends of insertion legs 33 are slightly projected perpendicularly to its lengthwise direction, and therefore, have a width larger than the through holes 14a, respectively. Thus, the holder 30 is prevented from being accidentally detached out of the seating space 14.
A process for mounting the communication pad according to the prior art structured as above will be described below.
First, an upper end of the holder 30 is directed to an outside of the seating space 14. At this state, the communication pad 17 is inserted into the insertion groove 31 of the holder 30. Then, the clamp 20 pivots about the hinge 25 clockwise with respect to the figure. At this time, the torsion spring 29 gives the clamp 20 the elastic force counterclockwise with respect to the figure.
Then, by pivoting the communication pad 17 and holder 30 clockwise with respect to the figure, the upper end of the communication pad 17 is seated into the seating groove 21 of the clamp 20. At this state, if the external force applied to the clamp 20 is removed, the clamp 20 pivots by the elastic force counterclockwise with respect to the figure. Then, the upper front end of the communication pad 17 is supported by the supporting end 23.
However, the communication pad mounting structure according to the prior art having the above structure has a problem as follow.
When the conventional communication pad 17 is mounted at the front surface of the door 13, a mounting direction of the communication pad 17 cannot be adjusted. That is, the communication pad 17 is mounted so that the front surface thereof faces forward at the front surface of the door 13.
Therefore, for example, when the communication pad 17 is provided with a LCD screen, the user cannot look at the screen smoothly so far as the user is not positioned at the front surface of the door 13. It is the same as the communication pad 17 is provided with a television or radio. That is, since the user cannot adjust the direction of the communication pad 17 at his/her desire, there is a problem in that it is inconvenient to use the communication pad 17.